Have you been craving to see some new films at the cinema recently, but are still looking for something that a) is unique, b) won’t involve a theatre full of school children on their holidays and c) is reasonably affordable? Get ready to see more at the annual Gold Coast Film Festival, which is set to hold its 2016 opening night at The Arts Centre Gold Coast on Thursday evening.
After many years at the helm, Kylie Pascoe has handed over the retains of the festival to new festival director Lucy Fisher – who along with her team have put together an intriguing line-up of films which will screen over the ten day period. Although it is disappointing to see that the Cool Japan film series has been eliminated from their line-up for the second year in a row, there will nevertheless be something for almost everyone to enjoy.
Love something quirky? The Brand New Testament looks to be a real hoot! After a late night scare? Scare Campaign will have you covered. Enjoy anything with Anna Kendrick in it? Mr. Right could be the right film for you to see. A number of these films including Spear, Scare Campaign, Crushed and quite a few others will have a Q&A with the creative team held post-screening as well. This isn’t too bad when you consider that ticket prices are $15.00 or less, and several of the screenings are held in a large and quite comfortable performing arts theatre.
A new addition to the 2016 festivities is YScreen, a program of entertaining and intelligent films/workshops aimed at children and teens. These are set to encourage young audiences to become active viewers, stimulate critical discussion of film in classrooms and provide an insight into other cultures and ways of life. These screenings, which include The Boy and the World, Labyrinthus and Landfill Harmonic, are either exclusively available to school groups (Bookable via The Arts Centre’s Education Officer) or have dedicated sessions for schools and the public.
But lets hypothetically say you are not after a paid screening, and just want something fun and free for your family to enjoy. Across the Gold Coast, there will be a number of free screenings featuring classic films and other events. This includes screenings of Babe (Pop Up Pictures style by Evandale Lake, a tie-in to the How to Make a Monster Exhibition), Ghostbusters (Victoria Park, Broadbeach) and Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (Victoria Park, Broadbeach).
Are you a budding film director/actor/producer and would love some advice from experts in the field? The REELLIFE lecture series is back, with a range from seminars being held during the Gold Coast Film Festival. These range from obvious topics such as ‘Directing’ and ‘Producing in Queensland’, to more specialist topics including Film PR & Marketing, Crowdfunding, Adaptation and Writing Women Characters. Want to know more? Visit the events page.
Want to know about what films are screening so you can draw up an itinerary? A full program of films being screened at Gold Coast Film Festival 2016 can be found HERE.
Gold Coast Film Festival 2016 is set to kick-off on March 31st 2016 with a screening of Eddie The Eagle. Not sure how well it wil manage to stand up against past Opening Night films such as The History of Future Folk or The Grand Budapest Hotel – but it sounds interesting nevertheless. The festival will then run until April 10th 2016, with film screenings and events being held every day. While The Arts Centre Gold Coast is serving as a hub for many of the events and screenings, there will be some content exclusively available at the BCC Coolangatta cinemas, in addition to particular events held across the Gold Coast.
I am very excited about this year’s festivities! Expect to hear a lot more regarding Gold Coast Film Festival 2016 on The Otaku’s Study in the coming weeks.
